THE NE.,W YORKER city-an immense task, perhaps impos- sible to carry out in the available time. Well, such drastIc action was unneces- sary, as it turned out. The disturbance proved to be a mere escape of gas that had found its way from the center of the new volcanic actIvity, through old conduits, to the Caldeira, showing up as what is called a 'fumarole'-a smok- ing region, relatively harmless. Fuma- roles can go on for years. We still have a few ver} old ones here on Terceira, and they don't worry anybody." The Colonel relaxed, and I gathered that he had come to the end of the les- son. "That is the story of the latest volcano of the Azores," he said, "and as far as we can tell, the story is finished. There are still a few smoking areas, but the volcano, now about five hundred feet high, is technIcally quiescent. Ac- cumulated pressures have been relieved, the irritating sea water has been sealed off, and if our new volcano obeys the rules, which one can never promise ab- solutely, the inhabitants of F alaI should have peace for at least a century, and perhaps a century and a half." He smiled. "And now let us go and look at a few volcanoes here on Terceira that have been quiescent a good dea] longer than that-though as these things go, even they are not really very old." Outside the office, a car was waiting, with a drIver, to whom the Colonel gave directions. We drove through the town, with its whItewashed or delicate- ly tinted houses and its black-and-white churches, and up a steep road leading to the plain, rimmed with volcanic mountains, that constitutes the high, flat center of the island. A new road leads to the military airfield, jointly operated by Portugal and the United States, at La jes, on the other ç;ide of the plain. The road was straight and smooth, not at all Azorian in appear- ance; it looked as if it could be rolled up like a ribbon and lifted off, leaving not a trace on the gray rock and scrubby growth. The Colonel indicated the plain with a wave of his hand, and said, "All of this is a lava flow. Weare now in the center of an ancient crater six miles across; it was filled up like a dish by lava from the smaller, more recent volcanoes on its rim. Terceira offers a fine site for a big airfield because the lava smoothed out all the irregulari- ties. " After we had travelled a ways acro s the plain, the road took us through a gap in the ring of hills, and the car paused at the top of a long, gentle, treeless slope that led to the distant sea. The Colonel said, "Here the lava broke 'WN., _ Ñ .. "'". -":';::-:=. Gre{tt Given to King Arthur by the magIcal arm arising from the Lake of Garde Bl{trles.. . ..,/ Ceremonial sword of Ferdinand and Isabella, for giVing knighthoods gre{tt Gifts f()r Gre{tt Occ{tsiOJIS ..... . .-: + : ;:-'J. p '";t ........(-. :. . .. Sword presented to Oliver Cromwell to commemorate his Protectorate . ...;.....:- R '^Oo. .. ......;..). Sword given to John Paul Jones by LouIs XVI of France, in special honor :..-/ J Carvel Hall carving set, In solid walnut case .39.95 . . . , ^"" :::-. '> S '(' , .. . ... .... - -- . v .v vH/ y. ",- --- -. .:. .., - Ince the dawn of tIme, the great blades of history have always been regarded as great gifts for great occasions . . . from the magic sword given to Perseus by Hermes to the great blade presented to Eisenhower by London, in honor of victory. Today, great blades by Carvel Hall are the modern equivalents of Leisure steak those blades knives, set of six, h in vinyl compact of specIal onor. . . . 14.95; carv.. D t ing sets also avail.. iscrimina ing able. givers choose them Leisure stainless as great gifts for tableware, six 5- t piece settings in grea occasions. compact. . . 49.50; others from place setting at 8.25. ,.,. .. \ \ "... >S( \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ ' ( j ø 'I'" \ ........ 4J: ,. \ QId ( & -U mea?'tIJ '.' Send 25c for booklet "Great Blades of History" picturing and describmg these and other famous gift blades. CHAS.. D.. BRIDDELL. INC., Cr 8field, Maryland 191 "It. 4<f